The present invention relates generally to the field of automotive safety, and more particularly to an infant viewing device which permits the driver of a vehicle to observe the position and condition of an infant occupant on the rear seat of the vehicle.
In November, 1983, the federal government passed into law the "Child Passenger Protection Act" requiring that an infant traveling in a vehicle be secured in a car safety seat that is itself fastened to the rear seat of the vehicle by means of seatbelts, with the infant facing toward the rear of the vehicle. It has become a common practice as a result of the recommendations of child safety advocates to position the car safety seat such that the infant faces the rear of the vehicle. Indeed, many child protection groups have stated that this form of travel is recommended for babies up to seven to twelve months old and/or twenty pounds in weight, whichever comes first.
Most infant safety seats include a high back and/or are constructed with side panels that often obstruct any view of the infant when the infant is in the safety seat facing rearward. Thus, in many instances, the infant is not readily visible to the driver of the vehicle or to the occupant of the vehicle adjacent to the driver. Since the position and condition of the infant is not observable by occupants of the front seat, the infant's needs and condition are not readily discernable. As a result, when the driver or passenger in the front seat of the vehicle wishes or needs to observe or check on the condition of the infant in the safety seat, the driver or passenger must turn his/her body and lean back over the front seat. This procedure is not only inconvenient but dangerous should the driver be the one attempting to observe the infant since the driver will be forced to take his/her eyes off the road. Although the driver or passenger in the front seat oftentimes has attempted to use either the rear view mirror or the visor mirror to observe the infant so positioned on the rear seat, such practice is awkward, cumbersome, and does not present ready convenience for such a procedure. Indeed, if the driver is alone, the driver is put into the position of having to stop the vehicle and perhaps even get out of the same in order to check on the infant. This practice is also inconvenient at best, and dangerous at worst if there is no safe roadside location to which the driver may safely drive the vehicle.
In recognition of the foregoing, various prior art devices have been developed in an attempt to provide a modality by which a rearwardly facing infant may be viewed or observed in a car safety seat. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,572 entitled SYSTEM FOR VIEWING AN INFANT IN THE REAR SEAT OF A VEHICLE issued Oct. 27, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,892 entitled REAR SEAT MIRROR issued Dec. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,956 entitled MIRROR SAFETY SYSTEM FOR VIEWING THE REAR SEAT OF AN AUTOMOBILE issued Mar. 29, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,118 entitled INFANT OBSERVATION MIRROR FOR CAR TRAVEL issued Feb. 20, 1990, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,618 entitled MIRROR FOR VIEWING INFANT IN REAR SEAR CARRIER issued Mar. 20, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,321 entitled DEVICE FOR OBSERVING INFANT IN REAR SEAT issued Feb. 8, 1994.
Though the devices disclosed in the above-identified patents address the need for viewing a rearwardly facing infant in a car safety seat, these devices possess certain deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. More particularly, the device described in the '956 Patent is mounted to the inner surface of the rear window of the vehicle, with the device described in the '618 Patent being mounted to that portion of a vehicle between the rear seat and the rear window. The devices disclosed in the '572, '892, '118 and '321 Patents are each mounted directly to the rear seat of the vehicle. In this respect, none of the devices described in the above-identified patents is attached directly to the car safety seat. Due to their relatively small size and position/location a relatively significant distance from the infant within the car safety seat, the devices described in the above-identified patents are difficult to properly position in a manner providing for optimal viewing of the infant within the car safety seat. Indeed, the relatively small size of these devices coupled with the relatively large separation distance between the same and the infant within the car safety seat often results in the infant moving out of view when the infant leans its head to one side in the car safety seat. Additionally, none of these devices provide any type of illumination means for purposes of allowing the same to be used in viewing or observing the infant at night.
The present invention addresses the above-described deficiencies of the prior art viewing devices described in the aforementioned patents by providing a viewing device which is mountable directly to the car safety seat and includes a reflective surface (i.e., a mirror) which is selectively positionable in relative close proximity to, but out of the reach of, an infant residing within the safety seat. The present viewing device also includes an illuminable lamp which allows for the viewing of the infant during nighttime driving. Because it is mounted directly to the car safety seat, any shifting or movement of the car safety seat relative to the rear seat does not result in the disruption of the proper orientation of the reflective surface relative to the infant within the safety seat. Additionally, the relative close proximity of the reflective surface to the infant's head maintains the proper viewing angle despite the infant leaning its head to one side. These, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will be discussed in more detail below.